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Disk array apparatus, disk array control method and computer program product thereforRelated Patent Categories: Electrical Computers And Digital Processing Systems: Memory, Storage Accessing And Control, Specific Memory Composition, Accessing Dynamic Storage Device, Direct Access Storage Device (dasd), Arrayed (e.g., Raids)Disk array apparatus, disk array control method and computer program product therefor description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060069866, Disk array apparatus, disk array control method and computer program product therefor. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a disk array apparatus, a disk array control method, and a computer program product therefor, and more particularly to a disk array apparatus, a disk array control method, and a computer program product therefor, which are capable of detecting a disk deteriorated in performance. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] In recent years, as can be seen in on-demand video delivery services, the need for accessing large amounts of data stored in a storage device without delay has increased. In the online transaction processing, although the need is not so large as the video delivery services, requirements for processing performance of a storage device have also become severe in accordance with improvement in performance of a server. To meet such requirements, a disk array apparatus in which a RAID (Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks) is used, and of which processing performance is improved by performing access to a plurality of disks in parallel, draws much attention and is widely used. In the RAID, various types are studied. Among major functions of the RAID, the first is to reduce the loss probability of data by providing the data with redundancy, and the second is to improve the performance by making the plurality of disks accessed in parallel. [0005] In the conventional disk array apparatus, an importance is placed on the holding of data. In the conventional disk array apparatus, a faulty disk is determined by detecting a certain error event issued by the disk, and then exchanged. For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-345095, there is disclosed a technique in which the disk is automatically exchanged in accordance with error occurrence frequency of the disk array apparatus. [0006] However, in the disk array apparatus, even though an error event is not detected, the performance deterioration can occur, and hence it is necessary to quickly detect the deterioration of performance. As such a technique, there is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-305865, a method in which a response time of a disk is detected and compared with a reference value, so as to enable the performance deterioration to be detected. There is also a known method in which after performance deterioration is detected, a part of blocks which is judged as a block failure is exchanged for a spare block. [0007] However, the above described conventional disk array apparatuses have following problems. A first problem is that performance deterioration is judged by comparing a response time to input/output (hereinafter, referred to as "I/O") request for a physical disk with a reference value, but the absolute value of the response time by which the deterioration is judged, is changed by various conditions, such as the type of disk, the size of I/O request data, and the load condition. Thus, the reference value is not easy to be set. That is, there is a problem that even if the reference value is set, it is difficult to accurately judge whether the performance deterioration has occurred. [0008] The second problem is that when the performance deterioration occurs due to a cause other than a block failure, the performance deterioration can not be improved. The performance deterioration in the disk array apparatus occurs in an extremely large scale online transaction processing environment, and occurs steadily at random access. As a result, a performance deterioration phenomenon which cannot be explained by a failure of a part of the blocks, may occur. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] An exemplary feature of the present invention is to provide a disk array apparatus, a disk array controlling method, and a computer program product therefor, which are capable of accurately detecting the performance deterioration of a physical disk, and of preventing the occurrence of failures. [0010] According to an example of the present invention, a disk array apparatus including a plurality of physical disks, includes: [0011] a response time measuring unit measuring a response time to an access to the physical disk; and [0012] a performance deterioration judging unit judging performance deterioration of a specific physical disk of the plurality of physical disks, on the basis of the response time of the physical disks and the response time of the specific physical disk. [0013] According to another example of the present invention, a disk array control method including a plurality of physical disks, includes: [0014] measuring a response time to an access to the physical disk; and [0015] judging performance deterioration of a specific physical disk of the plurality of physical disks on the basis of the response time of the physical disks and the response time of the specific physical disk. [0016] According to additional example of the present invention, a signal-bearing medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus that permits a computer to function as: [0017] a response time measuring unit measuring a response time to an access to a plurality of physical disks included in a disk array apparatus; and [0018] a performance deterioration judging unit judging performance deterioration of a specific physical disk of the plurality of physical disks on the basis of the response time of the physical disks and the response time of the specific physical disk. [0019] Exemplary advantage of the present invention is that performance deterioration of a physical disk constituting a disk array apparatus can be accurately detected. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0020] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken with the accompanying drawings in which: [0021] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment according to the present invention; Continue reading about Disk array apparatus, disk array control method and computer program product therefor... Full patent description for Disk array apparatus, disk array control method and computer program product therefor Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Disk array apparatus, disk array control method and computer program product therefor patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Disk array apparatus, disk array control method and computer program product therefor or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Optical disk apparatus Next Patent Application: Method and apparatus for storage pooling and provisioning for journal based strorage and recovery Industry Class: Electrical computers and digital processing systems: memory ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Disk array apparatus, disk array control method and computer program product therefor patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.14918 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Medical: Surgery , Surgery(2) , Surgery(3) , Drug , Drug(2) , Prosthesis , Dentistry 174 |
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